


Karen is not a New Yorker

by readythefanons



Series: The Big Apple [1]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Definitely an actual pairing, Gen, Karen Page/New York City, would've been G-rated except for Karen's potty mouth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-04-04
Packaged: 2018-05-31 08:03:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6462385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/readythefanons/pseuds/readythefanons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karen is not a New Yorker. She was born in Connecticut and raised in Vermont, but New York City is her first ever crush. <i>The city that never sleeps. The Big Apple.</i> When she’s short and chubby-legged, she loves the glitter and glamor. Skyscrapers and fountains and dramatic dip kisses in the middle of the street.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Karen is not a New Yorker

Karen is not a New Yorker. She was born in Connecticut and raised in Vermont, but New York City is her first ever crush. _The city that never sleeps. The Big Apple._ When she’s short and chubby-legged, she loves the glitter and glamor. Skyscrapers and fountains and dramatic dip kisses in the middle of the street. 

She grows up but she doesn’t grow out of it. She’s knock-kneed and has a too-shiny forehead, and she daydreams about _going out on the town._ In a year she can get her learner’s permit, and then her license but it’s hard to feel much excitement when there’s nowhere to go. That’s not literally true of course. They have a movie theater (no air conditioning and last month’s movies, but tickets are only six dollars) and a library and their own bookshop-café. They’ve got two grocery stores and a natural food store, and the next town over has a Walmart. There are _plenty_ of places to go. Heck, in two years they’re going to get a second stoplight. 

She does like their small theater. Good thing, too, since she spends so much time in it. She auditions for every play and she’s always part of the crew. She owns a lot of black. She likes it. Black is practical. Black is fashionable and slimming. Black is _stylish._

The world opens up when she gets to college. Finally: _New York._ She arrives on campus with the vague idea of majoring in theater. She cuts her hair really short. She can dance and sing and act. She’s a triple threat. 

She doesn’t feel like a triple threat. She goes out with the girls from her floor and they take the subway and miss their stop twice. She goes out with a group of girls from her class and they end up cramming into a taxi to get back to campus. She goes out on her own and stops in at any store that catches her eyes (she can’t really afford to buy anything) and has lunch at a cute café. She window shops and people-watches, and at the first blush of dusk she hightails it back to her dorm. She’s afraid of New York at night.

She does better in English than theater, and her only A is in math. Karen wants Hollywood so badly that it’s all she can taste some days. Her ambition consumes her. She trusts people who are untrustworthy and burns her bridges with people she used to rely on. Things get bad, then worse, and Karen spirals out of control. She gets really low before she remembers how to fight. She puts herself together with sweat and tears a lot of luck. She returns to college and gives in to her strengths. She grows her hair out again and double majors in math and English. (If she’s doing this, she might as well be all in). She gives up her Hollywood dreams, but she keeps her killer clothes and her goddamned flawless makeup. Theater might not be her calling but fuck if she’s going to give it all up without learning a damned thing. Every time she leaves her room, she thinks to herself, Fake it ‘til you make it.

She finds different people to go out with and is pleasantly surprised when she actually likes most them. She works like a woman possessed and graduates with honors. She’s offered a job right out of college. It’s not her dream job, but she’s good at it. It’s just until a better opportunity comes along. (She’s not sure she has a dream job anymore.) She dresses the part and commits to her role. She’s all in.

She’s actually good at her job, another pleasant discovery. A better opportunity comes along and she takes it. Her hours are the same, but the pay is better. It’s still not her dream job. Mr. McClintock is distant but not stern. She gets along with her co-workers. Union Allied Construction has more young employees than her old company. That’s good and bad. On the one hand, people her own age are more likely to share her interests. On the other hand, people her own age have certain, specific interests which Karen does not share. Karen does not have a love life and does not want one.

The Incident happens. There are aliens and heroes and massive property destruction. Karen’s apartment gets off lightly (most of the building is still standing), but she still has to find a new place to live. 

Union Allied is more than spared. Karen wonders how much of the energy behind the office’s canned goods and toiletries drive is fueled by guilt. It doesn’t matter. Karen brings in cans of soup, and when she’s packing she finds an unopened toothbrush and a whole bag of tiny hotel soaps for the collection box. 

The office gives blood together. New York is not famed for its camaraderie, but as she’s standing in line with a Daniel from Legal and a Susan from HR, Karen finally feels like she’s made it. She falls a little more in love with the Big Apple. It has been years since she has been afraid to be out after dark.

New York repairs itself as best it can. Karen finds a new apartment, and work is busier than ever. Being a construction company following literal otherworldly destruction is lucrative. Daniel from Legal has framed pictures on his desk of his wife and two kids. He has a gold band on his finger, and sometimes when he’s thinking of what to do next, he touches it and smiles. Karen doesn’t even think he realizes he does it. He says call him Danny. They are not quite friends, but they’re friendly and that’s good enough for Karen. Things are ticking along nicely, and then she gets a misaddressed email.


End file.
